Analysis of On The Sunny Side
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
Hi and whoop-hooray, boys!
Sing a song of cheer!
Here's a holiday, boys,
Lasting half a year!
Round the world, and half is
Shadow we have tried;
Now we're where the laugh is,--
On the sunny side!
Pigeons coo and mutter,
Strutting high aloof
Where the sunbeans flutter
Through the stable roof.
Hear the chickens cheep, boys,
And the hen with pride
Clucking them to sleep, boys,
On the sunny side!
Hear the clacking guinea;
Hear the cattle moo;
Hear the horses whinny,
Looking out at you!
On the hitching-block, boys,
Grandly satisfied,
See the old peacock, boys,
On the sunny side!
Robins in the peach-tree;
Bluebirds in the pear;
Blossoms over each tree
In the orchard there!
All the world's in joy, boys,
Glad and glorified
As a romping boy, boys,
On the sunny side!
Where's a heart as mellow?
Where's a soul as free?
Where is any fellow
We would rather be?
Just ourselves or none, boys,
World around and wide,
Laughing in the sun, boys,
On the sunny side!
Scheme | ababcdcD efefadaD ghghadaD gigiadaD jgjgadaD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (28%) |
Metre | 101011 10111 10101 10101 101011 1111 111011 10101 101010 10101 10110 10101 101011 00111 101111 10101 10110 10101 10101 10111 101011 1010 10111 10101 100011 1001 101011 00101 101011 1010 101011 10101 101110 10111 111010 11101 1001111 10101 100011 10101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 926 |
Words | 175 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 18 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 146 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 34 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 54 sec read
- 114 Views
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"On The Sunny Side" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20993/on-the-sunny-side>.
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